Dictionary

Mae West en · NOUN

Etymology

Named after the actress and sex symbol Mae West, who was well known during the war. The inflatable front was taken to be like her busty figure.

Meanings

1. (informal) A type of life jacket used by Allied forces in World War II having an inflatable rubber bag on the chest of the wearer.
   • The most successful form of shark repellent, according to US Naval Research Laboratory tests, was a combination of copper acetate and a dark nigrosine dye, and cakes of this mixture were apparently now attached to the Mae Wests of all the US Armed Forces. 1954, Ian Fleming, “Beau Desert”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 192:

Forms